Do you use white gas to start your campfires?

[Hikes with a stick]

I was out camping this past weekend, and was in an area that recently had rain, and this weekend got some snow. Everything was wet. The previous campers had laid out a bunch of small kindling, but that was all wet too.

I tried to get a fire started with cotton balls rubbed with vaseline, but that did not work. After 3 failed trys with the cotton balls, I decided to use whitegas.

It worked great! It was a bit more explosive than I anticipated, but I was ready for it. I was just about to give up on getting a fire going.

Anyone else ever use white gas in a pinch? Or rely on it as firestarter?

Disclaimer: I don't recommend white gas as a camp firestarter unless you take safety precautions(every time)...

[Mags]

Magic boyscout water.

That's what we called it when I was a 12 yr old Boyscout.

[MikenSalem]

I don't ever recommend you use gas for a fire starter unless you're simply tired of living a pain free unscarred life. Way to easy to have an oops with tragic results. Besides it don't really work that good anyway

[mkmangold]

Anyone else ever use white gas in a pinch? Or rely on it as firestarter?

Just one time. 7 degrees. Despite losing all of the hairs on my hands and some singed eyebrows, it was a life-saver.

[Trailweaver]

I think that's a great way to end up in a burn unit, or worse. And think how painful it's going to be when you're hours away from that burn unit, and have to hike out (or be carried out) to get there!

[harryfred]

I'm not a big fan of camp fires. I do make one if it is really cold or I have to dry gear out. Having said that I carry a at least 1 stick of fire starter even in my fanny pack as a just in case. During the colder months I carry as much as I think I will need plus a stick. You only need 1/3 of a stick on a good day, If your trying to build a fire in the rain use a whole stick, and maybe some twigs smeared in vaseline or hand sanitizer to help progress the fire. Hand sanitizer btw starts and burns really well. I have never gotten vaseline soaked cotton balls to light unless the weather has been good enough to not need a fire White gas as a fire starter Dud the burns you could get and the weather you described It would kill you. I would write this off something you got away with and look at other ways to start a fire in the worse conditions and plan accordingly. Last note before the survivorest chime in. I have built a nice toasty roaring fire in a cold drizzly rain using a flint and steel sparker and nothing else out of my pack. That's why I carry the fire starter!

[Mags]

Hey 12 yr olds and flammable substances go together well..like matches and Coleman fuel. Then there's the flame throwers we made... ( a lighter and aerosol bug spray) I am sure the scouters on this BBS have similar cringe inducing stories.

[harryfred]

Hey 12 yr olds and flammable substances go together well..like matches and Coleman fuel. Then there's the flame throwers we made... ( a lighter and aerosol bug spray) I am sure the scouters on this BBS have similar cringe inducing stories.

LOL dud I know your right Why the good Lord let me live ths long I've done my share of gotta way with its.

[MintakaCat]

I do a lot of winter hiking and for a fire starter I use Esbit fuel tablets.

[Doctari]

Without actually answering the question, let's just say I am surprised I'm alive.

[nitewalker]

Hey 12 yr olds and flammable substances go together well..like matches and Coleman fuel. Then there's the flame throwers we made... ( a lighter and aerosol bug spray) I am sure the scouters on this BBS have similar cringe inducing stories.

carry a small dry bag of twigs and you will always have fire, also you need to watch man vs wild or survivor man. no white gas . its like cheating on a test..

flame throwers !!! haa, i used to do the same. did u ever lite up one of those gypsy moths and watch it do the worm??? lol

p.s. only in rhode island

[warraghiyagey]

I've used some here and there to get a fire going. . . it's like anything else that could be 'dangerous' if you don't use a little care and respect. . .

[Manwich]

I'll pick up birch bark along the way. I also have some alcohol hand sanitizer for post-poop washing that'll double up as a firestarter.

[rpenczek]

Thing is with White Gas (or regular old unleaded gas) is you never know how it will light up. The vapor is what will get you, so lets say you put it on a pile of wood you plan to use as a fire and its windy, no problem, it lights up, you get the "heat" portion of the triangle and "you have made fire" without burning yourself.

But, lets say its just before dark, the wind has totally died down, all is still. You drop on your white gas and the vapor hangs in the air (all around you), you light the match and wooph, you are a human fire starter.

There are much better (read safer) ways. Contrary to the BSA references in prior posts, you can learn a thing or two from the BSA. Check out a BSA Handbook for Field Manual. Having said that, I did as a youth use the white gas a time or two, but it had nothing to do with being a Boy Scout and everything to do with being an inexperienced youth.

[The Weasel]

Actually, gasoline (white or otherwise) isn't even that good for starting difficult fires: Gasoline is heavier than air, so when you pour it, as it starts to vaporize, the vapor 'flows' at ground level, about 1" high. So it doesn't stay concentrated at the site where it is actually poured. This is why nearby stoves will often explode, as well as other nearby gear getting burnt. Even if lit quickly, before it flows away, only the first bit of liquid really ignites, quickly heating most of the rest into vapor - not flame - which burns off quickly in the 'boom' cloud, which is far above your fire. Very little of the gasoline actually burns in the area where the wood fuel is, and only for a few moments until it, too, vaporizes. That's why firestarters (usually sawdust with wax/paraffin binder) are far better.

TW

[Fiddleback]

Magic boyscout water.

That's what we called it when I was a 12 yr old Boyscout.

Ahhh...memories! Though, we called it "Girl Scout water."

But it's not the safest procedure and I was appalled a few years ago when, in the Mission Mountain Wilderness, my adult trail partners used the same 'technique' with seemingly no concern. Serious burns would have been a serious matter with help so distant and I wasn't too pleased with the thought that I'd be the one to make things right after they disabled themselves.

That and a few other shortfalls in trail safety and common sense has resulted in no more trips with those two...

FB

[Yukon]

it's like anything else that could be 'dangerous' if you don't use a little care and respect. . .

That about sums it up perfect...

[Mags]

Having said that, I did as a youth use the white gas a time or two, but it had nothing to do with being a Boy Scout and everything to do with being an inexperienced youth.

..it also has a lot to do with how scouts brings together MANY inexperienced youths at once with access to flammable substances.


(I'm not slamming BSA...just taking a trip down memory lane. It is also a memory similar to many people also in BSA at ~12 yrs old. Cheers! )

[sheepdog]

poof !!!!! no eyebrows

[Doughnut]

White gas works fine if you lightly apply it to a piece of wood, sort of like a torch; not dump it in the middel and fling matches at it.

Denatured Alcohol works great too, though it tends to evaporate quickly. Alcohol works great for bug bites and minor skin rashes, too.